11 comments:

MrMcClellan
said...

Thanks for providing links to recently commented upon topics.

May I make a suggestion? Not to sound unappreciative (which I am not, especially because you don't make us look at cheesy ads) or lazy (well, maybe I am, but just a little bit,) a method of allowing readers to subscribe (either through RSS feeds or email) to topics would be great.

This would allow readers to be informed of new comments to topics as they are made. I do this with Norton (antivirus) Community and it works great.

Probably too much to ask for, but I'm hooked. Especially looking forward to reading about developments in the DA's office, Supreme Court races, challenges in the Alesi and Slaughter districts and the list goes on...

Any comment on the hiring of Maggie's husband at the water board? He had a $123K job there and is now being hired at $50/hr to train his replacement. Since he quit on the day he was eligible to get his pension, after getting a pension waver from the state civil service commission, he's double-dipping. So he's probably taking home more money every month (pension + contract) than he did when he was employed full time by Monroe County. Nice work if you can get it.

I can't get overly excited about it -- it's garden-variety patronage. But I would think a blog that counted the days that Mike Green had a county car would be interested in situation that's clearly analogous: someone close to the powers that be getting a paycheck for ill-defined transition activities.

Other than that, it's also interesting for Republicans because it appears to be a signal that Maggie isn't running for Congress if redistricting gives Rochester a more competitive district. If she were, I think she'd have nixed the deal.

A reading of articles about Maggie's husband shows that he has been collecting his pension since he retired from the RPD 15+ years ago. That may be double dipping, but his rehiring at the water authority isn't a pay raise, its a pay cut. He was making $123k. $50/hr. is about $100k if it were full time, which the article says he wont be. So, he is definitely taking a pay cut.

It's a story if Maggie is the one making hiring/ firing decisions as Sandy is in the DAs office. Or if he's not qualified for the job in some way and got the job because Maggie called in a favor. Other than that, who cares. Successful people seem to marry successful people. And it's extremely common for government workers to retire on the day they become eligible and for an outgoing director to stay on to train the new one. Sorry Rottenchester, I'm much more interested in which ADA is still employed with a criminal record or after violating office policy just because he's a Judges son.

Anon #1, the D&C article says: "Three months after stepping down as head of security for the Monroe County Water Authority, Robert Wiesner, the husband of Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, is poised to return under his former title on a part-time and temporary basis."

He retired from the position of head of security for the Water Authority, though he may have been a RPD officer earlier in his career.

So, you didn't get your facts straight, and, as I said above, this is a classic case of double dipping: a government employee retires, begins collecting a pension, and is then paid as a contractor to do the same job.

Anon #2: There have been a whole bunch of rumors about all the goings on in the DA's office in the comments of this blog. They include rumors about DUIs from TV personalities, people getting sweet plea deals because they're connected with the DA, and so on. Not a single one of these rumors has been backed up by any reporting. Those DUI judgments are public record. Which judge's son? Which ADA has a criminal record?

Now, your contention is that we're supposed to believe those rumors because, what, someone said it? Yet we're not supposed to be worried at all about another suspicious appointment. I'm just saying that perhaps the same level of skepticism that has been used to evaluate the actions in the DA's office should be used to evaluate the actions at the Water Authority. You seem to think that only Democrats need that level of skepticism. In that way, you're just like the D&C, because you have one set of rules for the party you favor, and another set for the party you don't.

Anonymous 3:12, Don't know about that. Something funny about D&C's treatment of the story. It was buried at page 7 of local section. Why not above the fold on p A1, where you'd expect something that reflects badly on Republicans? And he D&C went to press before the Kodak bankruptcy story came out. So that wasn't the reason. Really strange.

Check out Gary Craig's weak reporting on Doorley trying to hide the fact that she hired a political hack in her office:

"As previously announced, former Monroe County Democratic Party executive director Adam Bello, who managed Doorley's campaign, has joined the staff in an open position of chief administrator.

The DA's news release noting the staffing changes did not mention by name Bello's previous employer, saying he worked in the private sector.

In that job, he managed staffing issues and budgeting, ."

Not only does Craig work to help make Bello's hiring palatable ("similar to his new role at the DA's Office") he intentionally leaves out the attack commentary on the issue that we would have seen from him and pro-Democrat Party attack reporter, Davey Boy Andreatta, if Maggie Brooks or any other GOP official released the same type of announcement.

Rottenchester, I emailed you privately to Rottenchester@gmail.com with all the names and information about the District attorney's office. Hope that helps to fill in some of the missing facts for you. I'd like to know if there has been any updates on Sandy's "transition team"? Who is this stellar team and Mike Green is still there, isn't he?